fjordmonkey

Summer's Here

Tuesday, 15. May 2007, 15:16:36

Tosca:

Seamus:

This is from 10 minutes brushing for each today. Obviously if I had brushed longer, there would be plenty more where this came from. I tend to stop when the pile reaches the size of the dog in question's head or s/he loses patience, whichever comes first.

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Our First Eurovision

Monday, 14. May 2007, 13:21:35

We watched the Eurovision Song Contest final on Saturday--all part of the European assimilation process, you know. Though, Norway didn't make the finals.

WARNING: All links go to You Tube and will start video clips. (Special note to Mom: You might as well skip all of them, with the possible exception of Serbia and Ireland. Or the UK, if you want a laugh.)

I could not believe how putrid the UK's entry was (I link only for those who doubt, click at your own risk), and I felt awful for Ireland. The song wasn't too bad, but the singer was obviously nervous and consquently sang painfully flat throughout. (If she had sung as she did in the video here, they still wouldn't have won, but at least they would not have come last.)

Contrast that with Sopho Khalvashi of Georgia who blew me away with her presence and performance. The song has stuck with me, too; it's catchy. Not bad for Georgia's Eurovision debut.

I was satisfied that Serbia won. The song was so-so, but the singer was very talented and had commanding presence, performing very well. If Russia(yawn) or Turkey had won (Turkey was LOT cheesier on stage at Eurovision than in this video, and that is saying a lot), I would have been disappointed. If Ukraine had won, it would have been silly, but consciously so, as opposed to another unintentionally silly entry--like Greece's (warning the audio is LOUD on this clip) "La Vida Loca" rehash or <gag> the UK's tripe--winning.

The only surprise was that I thought France should have done better. They had such good energy and a fun look. (Not seen in this video--for the final, the NRK commentators kept talking over the Helsinki ones, but I believe they said Gaultier designed their costumes--hot pink satin and black. It worked.) They seemed to really be enjoying themselves, and the song was a nice change of pace. T'was very French. ETA: Found a pic of their costumes, here. The bald guy's schtick really works better in costume, IMO.

Indeed, the staging and costume differences impacted my impressions more than I realized. I groaned far more during the live show than in reviewing the video clips. I mean, I still thought Russia's entry was pointless and really badly written (even if it had a danceable beat), but I didn't have the visceral reaction to their performance while watching the video that I did while watching the live performance. (I mean, really, "Put a cherry on my cake and taste my cherry pie"? Is it cake or is it pie, make up your mind, metaphor-wise, or better yet, skip both and go straight to coffee. Or wait for Alannis's version . . .)

From a political standpoint, I found some of the votes interesting. That Montenegro gave its big points to Serbia, despite the tension there, and Croatia going for Serbia as well.

Next year, we will plan ahead and have a Eurovision party and/or liveblog it. We had a lot of fun getting into it, obviously.

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New Toy, New Horizons

Sunday, 6. May 2007, 12:30:49

T got us a new laptop to round out our complement of computers. It's a Mac. We chose a Mac because I'm not looking forward to Vista anytime soon, and also, honestly, primarily because of the PhotoBooth program. Our friend J introduced H to it on her MacBook Pro, and H was instantly hooked. It is a lot of fun to play with--you can make things like this:

Of course, H prefers either laptop to the desktop she's been consigned. I let her play with them under supervision, but the desktop isn't connected to the internet, so I prefer her to work on that one for now--also there is less chance of her breaking anything, though we did realize she'd gotten into the command line the other day.

Good timing on the new laptop. Now we can apartment hunt or work on one while watching programs on the other. We were just about to get cable, but I think we'll wait now until we move, so we don't have to pay installation twice. I was caught off guard by own idiocy though--I'd forgotten a laptop bought in Norway would have a Norwegian keyboard. Imagine! So, I'm relearning to type as well as getting reacquainted with how Mac does things. Mom called it "learning Macwegian".

We're getting into the swing of things on the searching front. We've seen a couple that are really nice and will check into further. And we're also starting a campaign of checking out neighborhoods on foot--to get a feel for how it would feel to live there. Last night we skulked around to several flats in Frogner. It is such a nice area--almost too nice. T made the comment that he almost had the feeling someone would ask to check his papers, to see if he had the credentials to live there. But we think some of that varies by block. There were certainly some studenty areas, as we heard one party going from a couple blocks away. (We're deep into "Russ" season, with soon-to-be graduates going nuts. Some kids spend as much as 10K USD on party busses, etc. It is like prom on steroids and goes on for weeks, culminating, I think, with Syttende Mai.)

Speaking of which, we had our most unpleasant public transport experience last night. We caught our bus home and all was well. Then one by one, at the same stop, came a steady parade of drunken teens (I don't know if these were Russ kids or just typical Saturday night revelers--none had their characteristic red pants on.) There had to be at least 20. REALLY drunk, singing, shouting in that way persons with ethanol-induced deafness do. The worst was this young couple. She was going after another girl's boyfriend and trying to show him her goods, as it were (while his own girlfriend was on his lap), then, as she pulled out her waistband not-so-coyly, her boyfriend stuck his hand down the front of her skirt and she quickly pulled away in mock horror. Nice. Just what I want my kid to see. Then, this same guy turns around and screams out that the drunks in the back (who he is with) are prostitutes. ?! Ooookay.

We had three stops until we could get off. Really it was more unsettling than anything. We'd had a pleasant evening and they were just really rude and LOUD. Poor H was trying to hang on (we were on jump seats) while covering her ears. I covered one for her so she could have a hand free. Finally, our stop came and we were able to escape. H was clearly bewildered by the spectacle. (Especially as on our earlier bus journey we'd had to remind her to use her "inside voice" on the bus!)

I don't know if this is typical for Saturday nights, as this is my first time on a bus this late on Saturday. I will say that we'd previously encountered other inebriated people-it is rare, but it happens. This was the first time I contemplated getting off the bus. There were so many of them and they were so wasted and out of control, that it was just highly uncomfortable being in the middle of them. I'll take a busload of heroin addicts any day--they'd all just go to sleep. Indeed, one time, we did encounter a seriously smacked-out junkie on the bus back from Oslo City mall. (We'd seen him earlier singing to himself in a church doorway on the other side of town, so it was surreal running into him again.) He was out, with his head down, in the front seat. The bus was very full, so we were standing next to him--we were all packed in like sardines. The bus went over a bump and he stirred long enough to catch a glimpse of T standing, holding H. He immediately snapped awake long enough to insist T take his seat. Then, he lurched over to the doorway to nod out with his face in the door join until he got to his stop.

Anyway, today we're venturing out to more neighborhoods. Then, tomorrow we'll start calling places to ask about the dogs and set up visnings (showings). It's kind of funny because it was this time last year when we started looking for places in Oslo, and some of the same apartments are showing up again.

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Family

Friday, 4. May 2007, 10:48:16

My cousin sent this photograph via email today. It depicts my paternal great grandmother Sarah and my great uncle Jim. Based on his age, I think this has to be around 1920. I've only seen a handful of photos of my dad's family from this era, so it was a real treat to find in my inbox. It's a nice reminder that on each side of my family tree is a long line of valiant women. I am grateful for their example.

And in case you were wondering, those turkeys she's holding were alive, so the photographer had a keen sense of both timing and humor.

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#$#%$#%$^^_)(#^_%$(^$^

Thursday, 3. May 2007, 11:49:32

(Title euphemized, as my mom reads this blog . . .)

We have to move again.

Our landlords unexpectedly find themeselves moving back from Sweden, so they need the place.

We legally have until November/December, but as the selection is better in summer, and they really want it back sooner, we will likely mutually agree on July.

I'm just sitting her numb and chuckling involuntarily. I love our apartment, our neighbor, our neighborhood. Not to mention the expense of moving or the complication of finding a place that will accept the dogs. AND we have to consider H's barnehage placement, too, as ideally she'll have received her place by then.

I'm really far more zen about this than I should be. More than anything I'm disappointed that it looks like Mom and Dad will never get to see our first Norway home.

And, damn it, will we ever find another tub?!!

Stay tuned.

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Personhood, Pediatrics, Pain, and Pedagogy

Thursday, 3. May 2007, 11:40:37

Wow. Yesterday, I received the person numbers for Harper and me. We're officially official now. I can be added to our bank account, get a cellphone, etc. Hurrah!

I was so surprised and pleased, as it came back 3 weeks to the day of our visit to the Folkeregister, which beats all estimates for this process. I wonder if we'd already been added to the database, but flagged until our documents came in. Regardless of how this ruthless efficiency happened, I'm very grateful.

Now the fun of navigating the health system begins!

I am so looking forward to getting H into a cardiologists office. But also, any doctor should be able to write her prescription, so that is first on the list.

Then, I'll go in for myself and try to get my own regimen restablished. It's been a couple months without anything but Tylenol, and it has not been easy. I'm concerned that the Norwegian "suck it up" approach to health care will come into play, but hopefully my surgical and imaging records will bolster my case (as is the case that I'm NOT asking for narcotics). Otherwise, I'll have to go to the US every year or something to see a doctor and stock up on meds. I've managed so far, but there are days it is hard to stand, walk or sit up, which kinda sorta limits my options and just isn't a tenable option as a human being, partner, and parent. I don't want this to be my life--or, by extension, T and H's. Been there, done that! I know the pain will never be obliterated (just marked my 18th anniversary, which means I've now had this issue for more than half my life, after all), but it can be tempered, and I think that I should the option of doing so.

*******************

In completely unrelated news, I recently ordered The Best of the Electric Company for H, to help her with reading skills. I was afraid it might be too dated for her, but she really enjoys it--and indeed the first episode, which is the most dusty/stilted of the lot, is her favorite. I'm surprised at how much I remember, as I haven't seen it for 30 years. I could already read by the time I was introduced to it, so I'm not sure how effective it is on its own, but I thought it couldn't hurt to toss into the mix--we read to H of course and reinforce in other ways, too. H's favorite bit from the show is the two people "phonics song", where one says the opening sound and the other provides the end. She asks to play that while we're doing other things.

Another thing she likes to do now is write down "recipes". (I was writing some down, so she wanted to do it, too.) This game entails my calling out ingredients and spelling them out as she writes them down. She has a lot of fun "helping" and it is great practice for her letters and word familiarity.

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The taste of Texas?

Monday, 16. April 2007, 14:17:15

I couldn't resist buying this at the market.

Apparently, Texas tastes like mustard seed, black pepper, onion, paprika, cayenne pepper, parsley, and marjoram. Who knew?

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Almost a person

Wednesday, 11. April 2007, 14:32:37

Today the apostilled documents I needed for the Folkeregister arrived. Many thanks to Grace for handling the local mailing of them in Austin, so we could get them expedited back to us sooner. (Also, thanks to T for meeting H & me at the bus stop to hand off the package, so we wouldn't have to go over to Opera to pick them up. We never would have made it to the Folkeregister office in time, otherwise--they close at 3, and it was already 1:30 by the time H and I were ready to go. Of course, this also meant H was sad that T didn't join us on the bus, but she soon settled in for the adventure.)

Of course, my heart sank a little when H & I arrived to find them on number 707 and I drew 778, but what can you do? I got a Fanta for H and we settled in to wait. She had a good time playing with a young Swedish toddler in the meantime.

Fortunately, at least 20 folks had given up, so we just had to wait about 50 minutes. Then the clerk took our documents, copied them, stamped everything, and then gave me back the originals.

Now, we just wait 5-6 weeks, and H and I will have our person numbers.

The snow the other day was such an aberration. Today it is sunny and gorgeous, and I didn't even need a coat! Spring is here.

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